Front panel control for pressure roller slide mechanism



Aug. 30, 1966 P. J NIELAND ETA]. 3,269,625

FRONT PANEL CONTROL FOR PRESSURE ROLLER SLIDE MECHANISM Filed Sept. 5, 1964 2 SheetsSheet 1 l/vvENTo/ms PAUL u. MELAND T V'AYNE ESCHOBER ATTORNEYS g- 30, 1965 P. J. NIELAND ETAL 3,269,625

FRONT PANEL CONTROL FOR PRESSURE ROLLER SLIDE MECHANISM Filed Sept. 3, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a d l zj FIG. 4

[NVENTORS PAUL. J N/ELA/VD M AYNE E SCHOBER A 7- TOFPNE Y5 United States Patent 3,269,625 FRONT PANEL CONTROL FOR PRESSURE ROLLER SLIDE MEOHANISM Paul J. Nieland, South St. Paul, and Wayne E. Schober,

Minneapolis, Minn., assignors to Viking of Minneapolis,

Inc., Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Filed Sept. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 394,231 Claims. (Cl. 22690) This invention relates generally to tape handling machines, and more particularly relates to improvements in tape driving mechanisms for such machines and of the type illustrated in US. Patent 3,023,943, issued on March 6, 1962.

Tape handling machines of the type to which the present invention relates have found considerable commercial success in the sound recording and reproducing field. Such machines employ a magnetic tape contained in a cartridge of the continuous loop type wherein an endless coil of tape is wound upon a reel from which a playing loop of the tape is removed from the inner convolution and simultaneously returned to the perimeter of the coil.

In such machines, the tape is driven by a capstan and a cooperating pressure roller. The pressure roller is retractable to an inoperative below-deck position for insertion and removal of the cartridge, and the slide mechanism of said Patent 3,023,943 has been utilized in several commercially available machines.

In the structure of said US. Patent 3,023,943, the control element or handle is located in the top wall of the deck. However, it has become desirable with some uses of such structure to provide a control element located in the front panel of the deck for greater convenience and ease of operation. This is particularly true with tape decks or machines which are utilized in vehicles, such as autos, boats, and airplanes, and which are mounted beneath the dashboards thereof. Also, when the tape machine operator is the vehicle driver, a more convenient operation means greater vehicle safety. With this in mind, an important object of the present invention is the provision of a control mechanism for the slide of a pressure roller actuating device wherein the control element is mounted in the generally vertically disposed front panel of the machine.

In order to accomplish such increased convenience and efliciency of operation, it is a further object of this invention to provide a generally vertically directed handle movement of the pressure roller actuator and also to provide a relatively short actuating stroke, which is accomplished in the illustrated embodiment by using a relatively long lever element. Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the actuating lever a-rm extends through a thin slot in the front control; and the use of a relatively long lever arm provides for lateral stability of the actuating lever arm and an accurate and precise actuation of the pressure roller mechanism.

Other objects of the present invention reside in the provision of a control mechanism for a pressure roller actuating device in which the structure provides a smooth and efficient actuation and operation, is durable and remains operative throughout long periods of continued use, and lends itself to economical manufacture.

The above and still further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed specification, appended claims and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts or elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a view in top plan of a tape handling machine constructed in accordance with the present invenvention, and having the hood portion of the casing broken away, and also having some parts shown by dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in vertical section taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in vertical section corresponding to FIG. 2, but showing alternative positions of some parts of the structure;

FIG. 4 is a view in horizontal section taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3, and showing some parts in bottom plan;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view showing the arrangement of the lever elements of the control mechanism comprising the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a view in section taken along the line 66 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is a view in section taken along the line 77 of FIG. 6.

The tape handling machine of the present invention comprises a composite casing structure or deck 1. The deck 1 includes a top wall or panel 2, side Walls 3, 4, a rear wall 5, and a front wall or control panel 6. The deck structure 1 further comprises a hood, represented gene-rally by the reference numeral 7, and disposed in spaced relation above the top panel 2. The deck or casing structure 1 further comprises a pan-shaped subpanel 7 seated beneath the deck top wall 2, and secured thereto by means of screws or the like 8 threaded into the subpanel 7.

A mounting bracket 9 is secured to the upper surface of the top wall 2 and is adapted to carry and position one or more electromagnetic transducer heads, one of which is shown at 10. The transducer head 10 is equipped with a pin jack 11 and an electrical onnection thereto is provided by means of the lead Wire 12. The tape cartridge having a coil of tape for use with the machine is shown only by broken lines in FIG. 1, the cartridge being represented by reference numeral 13. The tape handling machine illustrated in the drawings is of the type particularly designed for use with a cartridge having an endless coil of tape. One of such cartridges is disclosed in US. Patent 2,951,654, issued September 6, 1960. In cartridges of such type, a ontinuous coil of tape is contained in the cartridge and wound upon a reel or spool from which a playing loop is removed and simultaneously returned. It will be understood that the cartridge 13 will be provided with an opening in its end Wall to receive the transducer head 10, and will also have an opening in its bottom wall to receive the driving mechanism for the tape, as noted hereinafter.

The mechanism for driving the tape in the machine illustrated comprises a rotary capstan 14 journalled in the deck 1 for rotation by means of a drive motor 15 connected by means of a belt 16 to a flywheel-acting pulley 17 mounted on the capstan spindle, not shown. The capstan drive mechanism is only partially illustrated herein, but it will be understood that the capstan spindle is journalled in the deck 1 by means of a suitable hearing, not shown. The capstan 14 is thereby disposed with its axis generally vertical or perpendicular to the deck top wall 2. Of course, the tape handling machine illustrated herein may be used in various positions other than horizontal, and it will therefore be appreciated that the terms upper, lower, Vertical, and horizontal are used herein merely for ease of description of the relationship of the various parts or elements of the machine.

In order that the cartridge 13 may be properly positioned upon the deck top wall 2 in relation to the capstan 14 and the head 10, an upstanding elongated guide flange 18 is secured to the top wall 2. As is conventional with machines of the general character illustrated herein, an idle pressure roller 19 cooperates with the capston 14 to drive or transport the tape from and back to the coil contained within the cartridge 13. The rubber puck or pressure roller 19 is swingably retractable from its operative vertical axis position, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein the pressure roller 19 presses the tape into frictional engagement with the surface of the capstan 14, to an inoperative position below the upper surface of the deck top wall 2. For this purpose of permitting swinging movements of the pressure roller 19, the deck top Wall 2 is provided with an aperture to receive the pressure roller 19. When the pressure roller 19 is in its inoperative below deck position, the cartridge 13 may be slid back and forth across the deck top wall 2, the cartridge 13 being maintained in alignment against the guide flange 18.

The idle pressure roller 19 is mounted for free rotation on the projecting end of a stud shaft 20 that is rigidly secured to and projects radially from an intermediate portion of an oscillatory shaft 21. The oscillatory shaft 21 is mounted within the subpanel 7 for oscillatory movement so as to move the pressure roller 19 between its above noted operative and inoperative positions. The axis of the oscillatory shaft 21 is generally perpendicular to and radially offset from the axis of the capstan 14 in the usual manner. One end portion 22 of the oscillatory shaft 21 is mounted in and carried by an end flange of the subpanel 7, while the other end portion 23 of the oscillatory shaft 21 is adjustably mounted by means of an elongated bar 23a as disclosed in US. Patent 3,096,920, issued July 9, 1963.

The oscillatory shaft 21 is provided at its end portion 22 with a crank arm 24 having a projecting crank pin 25. The extreme inoperative or below deck position of the pressure roller 19 is shown in FIG. 4, whereas the operative tape driving position is shown in FIG. 1.

The pressure roller control mechanism disclosed herein further comprises a slide, represented generally by the reference numeral 26, disposed in underlying relationship below the top wall 2 of the deck 1. The slide 26 extends generally parallel to the deck top wall 2 and is mounted or guided for longitudinally generally straight line sliding movements in a path intersecting the field of arcuate swinging movements of the crank pin 25, and also generally parallel to a plane which is normal to the axis of the oscillatory rock shaft 21. More specifically the slide 26 is mounted by means of a pair of T guides, the forward one of which is represented by the reference numeral 27, and the rearward one of which is represented by the reference numeral 28. As shown particularly in FIGS. 3-5, the front T guide 27 is secured to the side flange of the subpanel 7 by means of suitable rivets 29 or the like, and the front T guide 27 is received within an elongated generally horizontally extending slot 30 defined in the slide 26. The rear T guide 28 is also mounted within the subpanel 7 and is received within an elongated slot 31 defined by the slide 26; however, the rear T guide 28 is adjustably mounted with respect to the subpanel 7 whereby the rear end portion of the slide 26 may be raised or lowered with respect to the front end portion of the slide 26 so as to permit adjustment of the operative driving position of the pressure roller 19.

Referring more particularly to the mounting of the rear T guide 28, the same projects through a slot 32 defined in the subpanel 7 and is adjustably mounted within a box bracket 33 secured to the subpanel 7 as shown particularly in FIG. 7. The rear T guide 28 defines a horizontal flange 34 reinforced with a bottom plate 35 having a screw threaded aperture therein. An adjustment screw 36 is screw threaded in the apertured bottom plate 35, and the screw 36 is also journalled in the box bracket 33 and the adjacent wall of the subpanel 7. For this purpose, the head 37 of the screw 36 is received in an aperture in the top portion of the box bracket 33, and a washer 38 is disposed threbelow. Also, the screw 36 defines a reduced tip end portion 39 received for rotation in a corresponding aligned aperture in the subpanel 7, as

4 shown particularly in FIGS. 6 and 7. As shown in FIG. 1, the head 37 of the screw 36 is available for adjustment by raising and lowering the rear T guide 28 for adjusting the position of the slide 26.

The generally intermediate portion of the slide 26 defines a recess adjacent the crank arm 24 and also defines a primary cam surface 40 and a secondary cam surface 41, as shown particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3. The primary and secondary cam surfaces 40, 41 are generally c-ontiguous and angularly disposed with respect to one another, and the cam surfaces 40, 41 are also connected by a shoulder portion 42. The primary cam surface 40 extends from the shoulder portion 42 in a direction generally normal to the path of movement of the slide 26, and the secondary cam surface 41 extends from the shoulder portion 42 in a direction generally parallel to the sliding movement of the slide 26. However, it may be preferred to form the secondary cam surface 41 in a slightly angularly upwardly extending or diverging manner from the shoulder portion 42 so as to increase the bias on the pressure roller 19 in its operative position in engagement with the capstan 14. Further, as shown particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the primary cam surface 40 is defined by the rear wall of a slot 43 which is closed at its bottom end portion and is open at its upper end portion adjacent the shoulder 42 and the secondary cam surface 41. As more particularly described in U.S. Patent 3,023,- 943, issued on March 6, 1962, upon movement of the slide 26 in a forward direction toward the front panel 6, the primary cam surface 40 engages the crank pin 25 and imparts arcuate swinging movements to the crank arm 24 and therefore to the pressure roller 19. Further forward movement of the slide 26 causes the crank pin 25 to move past the shoulder portion 42 and engagement of the secondary cam surface 41 moves the crank arm 24 and the pressure roller 19 into the final operative position thereof in engagement with the capstan 14. With this operation in mind, it will be appreciated that adjustment by the screw 36 raises and lowers the rear end portion of the slide 26 so as to adjust the final operative position of the pressure roller 19. When the slide 26 is moved in a rearward direction, the front edge or wall 44 of the slot 43 engages the crank pin 25 to move the same in a reverse arcuate swinging movement and lowers the pressure roller 19 to its previously noted below deck position.

The mounting bar 23a for the end portion 23 of the oscillatory shaft 21 is adjustably mounted by means of an adjustment screw 45 so as to provide externally available means for adjusting the end portion 23 of the shaft 21 about the end portion 22 thereof so as to provide a considerable range of adjustment for compensating for normal wear of the pressure roller 19 without affecting the parallelism between the respective axes of the pressure roller !19 and the capstan :14. A tension spring 46 is connected through the end portion 23 of the oscillatory shaft 21, as shown particularly in FIG. 4, in a manner to bias or stabilize the pressure roller 19 in its inoperative below deck position shown in FIG. 4 and also in its near operative position adjacent the capstan 14 wherein the pressure roller surface is spaced from the capstan =14 merely enough to provide no frictional driving engagement of the tape. As shown in FIG. 4, a microswitch 47 is positioned below the deck top wall 2 and is actuated by a lever 48 having a shoe 49 engaged by an offset 50 in the slide 26 when the same is moved to its forward position shown in FIG. 2, whereby to energize the capstan drive motor 15.

As noted in the introduction hereto, it is often desirable to provide actuating means for moving the slide 26 and which actuating means is disposed in or near the front control panel 6 of the deck 1. Accordingly, a novel control mechanism disposed at least partially in the front housing panel 6 will be described hereinafter. Such control mechanism comprises a generally flat bracket 51 having 21 depending fiange and a horizontal mounting flange secured to the top wall 2 by suitable rivets or the like.

The bracket 51 is disposed adjacent the front deck panel 6 and also adjacent the front end portion of the slide 26, and the bracket 51 also has its main depending flange disposed in general parallelism with the slide 26.

The control mechanism noted above further comprises a first lever element 52 having its rear end portion pivotally connected by means of a pin 53 to the bracket 51 at a location generally rearwardly of the forward end portion of the slide 26. The first lever element 52 has a front end handle portion 54 which projects through an elongated slot 55 defined in the front deck panel 6 and equipped with a knob 56 projecting outwardly of the front panel 6. The front end handle portion 54 of the first lever element 52 is movable about the pin 53 in a generally vertical direction which is generally perpendicular to the direction of sliding movement of the slide 26. The first lever element 52 defines an intermediate belly portion 57 having an elongated cam slot 58 defined therein. A specific formation and arrangement of the first lever element is shown particularly in FIGS. 3-5.

The control mechanism for the slide 26 further comprises a second lever element 59 which is generally triangular in form and defines three generally triangularly spaced and arranged pivot pins, sometimes referred to herein as action surfaces. More specifically, the second lever element 59 is constructed in the form of a right triangle plate and defines a pivot pin 60 at the right angle corner portion 61 thereof for pivotally mounting the lever element 59 to the bracket 51 at a location generally below the forward end portion of the slide 26. The forward corner portion 62 of the second lever element 59 also defines a pivot pin 63 disposed within the elongated cam slot 58 of the first lever element 52. Also, the upper corner portion 64 of the lever element 59 is provided with a pin 65 which is received within a vertical cam slot 66 defined by the forward end portion of the slide 26. As shown particularly in FIG. 5, the pivot pin 60 projects from one side of the lever element 59, whereas the pins 63, 65 project from the opplosite side of the ilever element 59 so as to provide for :a convenient nesting of the lever elements 52, 59. The pin 63 and its cam slot 58, and also the pin 65 and cam slot 66 are sometimes referred to herein as pin and cam slot connections, and it will be appreciated that the definition of the pins and cam slots could be reversed between the various elements. When referring to the pins and cam slots of the lever mechanism described above as action surfaces, it is noted that the pivot pin 60 of the second lever element 59 comprises one of the atcion surfaces, whereas the pin 63 and the cam slot 58 comprise a second of the action surfaces, and the pin 65 and the cam slot 66 comprise a third of the action surfaces.

The operation of the above noted control lever mechanism for the slide 26 is shown particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, and referring to FIG. 3 initially, the full line position of the various elements represents the complete inoperative or below deck position of the pressure roller 19, not shown in FIG. 3. In this position, the knob 56 of the first lever element 52 is in the upper full line position of FIG. 3, and downward movement of the knob 56 imparts a forwardly directed movement to the slide 26 through the medium of the first and second lever elements 52, 59. An intermediate position of the various elements is represented by dotted lines in FIG. 3. Continued movement of the knob 56 and the first lever element 52in a downward direction brings the same to the position shown in FIG. 2, wherein the crank pin 25 of the crank arm 24 has moved around the shoulder portion 42 and into engagement with the secondary cam surface 41 so as to place the pressure roller I19 in its operative ta-pe driving position in engagement with the capstan 14. The intermediate near operative position of the pressure roller 19 is not shown in the drawings, but it will be understood that in this position, the crank pin 25 is disposed adjacent to or slightly below the shoulder portion 6 42 of the slide 26. Upon movement of the knob 56 of the first =lever element '52 in an upward direction, the above noted operation is of course reversed.

This invention has been tested and found to provide a highly satisfactory means for controlling pressure roller movement from a front panel position; and While one embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention has been shown and described, it should be specifically understood that the same may be modified without departure from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In a tape handling machine of the type having a housing defining a top panel for supporting a coil of tape and a front control panel and also having a tape drive including capstan, a pressure roller mechanism mounted on an oscillatory shaft for arcuate swinging movements toward and away from said capstan, a crank arm secured to said shaft, and a slide for imparting said swinging movements to the pressure roller mechanism upon generally fore and aft directed sliding movements of said slide, the improvement of a control mechanism disposed at least partially in said front housing panel for imparting said sliding movements to the slide, said control mechanism comprising:

(1) a first lever element mounted for pivotal movements about an axis generally parallel to the axis of said oscillatory shaft, said first lever element having a handle portion disposed outwardly of said front housing panel and movable in a generally vertical direction generally perpendicular to the direction of sliding movement of said slide, and

(2) a second lever element connected between said first lever element and said slide.

2. In a tape handling machine of the type having a housing defining a top panel for supporting a coil of tape and a front control panel and also having a tape drive including a capstan, a pressure roller mechanism mounted on an oscillatory shaft for arcuate swinging movements toward and away from said capstan, a crank arm secured to said shaft, and a slide for imparting said swinging movements to the pressure roller mechanism upon generally fore and aft directed sliding movements of said slide, the improvement of a control mechanism disposed at least partly in said front housing panel for imparting said sliding movement to the slide, said control mechanism comprising:

(1) a first lever element having its rear end portion pivotally connected to said machine and also having a front end handle portion disposed outwardly of said front housing panel and movable about said pivotal connection in a generally vertical direction generally perpendicular to the direction of sliding movement of said slide,

(2) a second lever element having three generally triangularly spaced action surfaces, one of said action surfaces comprising a pivotal connection of said second lever element to said machine,

(3) a pivotal and cam connection between said first lever element and said second lever element, said connection comprising a second of said action surfaces of said second lever element,

(4) a pivotal and cam connection between said second lever element and said slide, said connection comprising the third of said action surfaces of said v second lever element, and

(5) whereby said sliding movements are imparted to said slide upon said generally vertical directed movement of said handle end portion of said first lever element.

3. In a tape handling machine of the type having a housing defining a top panel for supporting a coil of tape and a front control panel and also \having a tape drive including capstan, a pressure roller mechanism mounted on an oscillatory shaft for arcuate swinging movements toward and away from said capstan, a crank arm secured to said shaft, and a slide for imparting said swinging movements to the pressure roller mechanism upon generally fore and aft directed sliding movements of said slide, the improvement of a control mechanism disposed at least partially in said front housing panel for imparting said sliding movements to the slide, said control mechanism comprising:

(1) a generally fiat bracket mounted on said machine and disposed adjacent said :front housing panel and also adjacent the forward end portion of said slide and further being arranged in general parallelism with said slide,

(2) a first lever element having its rear end portion pivotally connected to said bracket and also having a front end 'handle portion disposed outwardly of said front housing panel and movable about said pivotal connection in a generally vertical direction generally perpendicular to the direction of sliding movement of said slide,

(3) a second lever element having three generally triangularly spaced and arranged action surfaces, one of said action surfaces comprising a pivotal connection of said second lever element to said bracket,

(4) a pin and cam slot connection between said first lever element, at a location thereof generally intermediate its opposite end portions, and said second lever element, said connection comprising a second of said action surfaces of said second lever element,

(5) a pin and cam slot connection between said second lever element and the forward end portion of said slide, said connection comprising the third of said action surfaces of said second lever element, and

(6) whereby the sliding movements are imparted to said slide upon said generally vertically directed movement of said handle end portion of said first lever element.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which said first lever element is connected to said bracket at a location generally rearwardly of the forward end portion of said slide, and in which said second lever element is connected to said bracket at a location generally below the forward end portion of said slide, and in which said second action surface is disposed generally forwardly of and said third action surface is disposed generally upwardly of said pivotal connection of said second element to said bracket.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which said second and third action surfaces of said second lever element comprise pivot pins cooperating with the respective cam slots defined by said first lever element and said slide.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,023,943 3/1962 Schober 226-181 3,096,920 7/1963 Schober 226 X 3,113,708 12/1963 Moulic. 3,154,956 11/1964 Eash 226181 X M. HENSON WOOD, JR, Primary Examiner.

A. KNOWLES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A TAPE HANDLING MACHINE OF THE TYPE HAVING A HOUSING DEFINING A TOP PANEL FOR SUPPORTING A COIL OF TAPE AND A FRONT CONTROL PANEL AND ALSO HAVING A TAPE DRIVE INCLUDING CAPSTAN, A PRESSURE ROLLER MECHANISM MOUNTED ON AN OSCILLATORY SHAFT FOR ARCUATE SWINGING MOVEMENTS TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID CAPSTAN, A CRANK ARE SECURED TO SAID SHAFT, AND A SLIDE FOR IMPARTING SAID SWINGING MOVEMENTS TO THE PRESSURE ROLLER MECHANISM UPON GENERALLY FORE AND AFT DIRECTED SLIDING MOVEMENTS OF SAID SLIDE, THE IMPROVEMENT OF A CONTROL MECHANISM DISPOSED AT LEAST PARTIALLY IN SAID FRONT HOUSING PANEL FOR IMPARTING SAID SLIDING MOVEMENTS OF THE SLIDE, SAID CONTROL MECHANISM COMPRISING: (1) A FIRST LEVER ELEMENT MOUNTED FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS GENERALLY PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID OSCILLATORY SHAFT, SAID FIRST LEVER ELEMENT HAVING A HANDLE PORTION DISPOSED OUTWARDLY OF SAID FRONT HOUSING PANEL AND MOVABLE IN A GENERALLY VERTICAL DIRECTION GENERALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE DIRECTION OF SLIDING MOVEMENT OF SAID SLIDE, AND (2) A SECOND LEVER ELEMENT CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID FIRST LEVER ELEMENT AND SAID SLIDE. 